AUTUMN SPEARS
About
Artist Statement
My work explores the concept of descendancy—both in relation to African American identity and within my own family history. I am interested in what it means to be a descendant of enslaved Africans while living within systems and narratives that have historically defined, fragmented, and reshaped that lineage.
Through this lens, I consider how identity is formed across generations: how it is inherited, disrupted, remembered, and reimagined. I am particularly drawn to the ways African American culture has developed its own origin stories and systems of meaning in response to historical rupture.
These questions inform my use of materials, imagery, and pattern. Working across mixed media, I build layered visual compositions that reflect the complexity of inheritance—drawing from domestic spaces, ritual, memory, and symbolic objects that speak to both personal and collective histories.
Biography
Autumn Spears (b. 1998) is a Washington, DC native whose art serves as a powerful medium for reimagining Black histories and diasporic narratives. Her upbringing in communities of color, while simultaneously navigating predominantly white institutions, has profoundly shaped her identity and artistic vision. These contrasting environments have ignited her interest in exploring black representation and identity across the African diaspora.
In 2020 she received her BFA in Art Education from Albright College. In 2023, Spears held her inaugural solo exhibition, "Becoming," at the Freedman Gallery in Reading, Pennsylvania. This milestone event showcased her distinctive style and marked the beginning of a promising artistic journey. Additionally, Spears’ work has been featured in local cultural institutions such as the MLK Memorial Library, Charles Sumner School, Anacostia Arts Center, and the Anacostia Community Museum. Spears is also a 2025 DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities grant recipient.